Things Aren't So Bad When You're Around
by patrengkee
Summary: Tanja Patori's life has been making unexpected turns. When Oishi Shuichiro tells her its okay, she realizes it wasn't so bad after all.


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"_**Things Aren't So Bad When You're Around**_**"**

_Summary_: Tanja Patori's life has been making unexpected turns. When Oishi Shuichiro tells her its okay, she realizes it wasn't so bad after all.

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Lametard title… XD *COUGHCOUGH*

So. This is my fourth _The Prince of Tennis _fanfic… guh why am I keeping count anyway…? Anyway, unlike last time this involves more of my OC Tanja Patori. This is supposed to be for a contest on _Princes World_, a TeniPuri RP forum, but this is too long… it's supposed to be 1000-word one-shot with my Patori and a canon character… so in the end I had to make a separate one. This is still an Oishi(Yes, he's the one I paired with Patori)x Tanja fic. This also a part of The Light Chapter arc from my related TeniPuri fanfic, Match of the Princesses(_Himetachi no Macchi_). Now I'm gonna use this for a contest on deviantART~ (Though I will only use a part of this for the contest. XD) I hope you guys will like, Patori is pretty likeable… I think.

Okay, so where's the next _Logic Game_ fanfic I promised? Uhh… I don't know. XDD Just kidding, I already have the idea of the story but I don't know who should be in it… even after months. I just got a _really_ intense artist-slash-writer's block LOL.

As usual, I don't own Prince of Tennis nor the characters because they belong to Konomi Takeshi. I don't own Hagane Akira either—she belongs to Kuroi-chan(KuroiRyuu182) on deviantART. This fan fiction is mine, of course~

Set about a week or a few days before Seigaku's match with Hyotei.

* * *

"Tanja Patori. Fourteen years old. Seishun Gakuen Junior High School," The new manager of _Atobe's Sports Gym_ read the document he was holding out loud to the girl standing quietly across him. He looked at her from head to foot: complete uniform, friendly face, neat outlook. Judging from the way she looked, she was an excellent example of a good employee.

Although he's only been at the gym for a week, the manager thinks Patori _is_ a good employee—even her fellow staff members think she is. Even though she's young, she has good time management skills, balancing out school, her tennis life, her part-time job, her family. Concerning work, she only has one problem.

And that problem is: she is too _young_. A teenager isn't supposed to be working until eight-thirty in the evening on a weekday, even though she works only on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule for about less than five hours. She's not even supposed to go to work, and was _not_ allowed to work yet—part-time jobs were for High School students. An ordinary teen, at this hour, would probably be in a group study at a classmate's house, at home watching TV or out with her friends, or maybe preparing things for next day's activity. She's not supposed to be working this late.

"Remember, your job here is only contractual. Ten months and two weeks, and that's it," the manager said. "You've used eight months already. This job isn't even supposed to be yours. You took your aunt's place of working here. I don't even know how or why boss approved of your proposal to take your aunt's place! If I have found out about this sooner, I would've immediately canceled the contract. You're too young."

Patori fiddled her thumbs. "My aunt was supposed to be working in this gym, but she was unexpectedly hired by a bank after she applied here. She was given a chance to decide if she wants to work here or not," she explained. "Since we need money, I decided to take this one for her, because it's just doing simple things around here and the schedule isn't so tight. Boss agreed since it's only contractual, but I'm hoping that maybe I could get this job permanently so—"

"No, you won't. Well, until high school I guess," the manager said. "I'm sorry. But seriously, if anybody else finds out about this, we're all _fried_," he said. "It's a good thing Sir Keigo didn't mind having you work here. You could get not only yourself fired, but also your fellow employees, boss and—"

"You, sir," Patori finished. "I understand. I'll follow the contract. I'll keep my word."

The manager nodded. "Alright then," he said. "You're lucky you're able to keep your work until the contract expiry. Until then, you do your best at work. It's still experience for you."

Patori smiled weakly. "Thank you very much," she bowed as the manager went back to his office.

Sighing, Patori walked back to the counter next to her co-worker Aki. "Seems like I won't be staying here for long, Aki-_san_," she said as she began clearing the counter.

"Come on, it's not so bad," Aki said as she took the 'closed' sign from a drawer. "At least you'll go back to your normal life after that."

"But my aunt can't do all the work alone. There are three of us in the house. The money I get from the newspaper job is only enough for groceries," the fourteen-year-old said as she placed the items on the countertop back in the shelves. "Besides, I've gotten used to this life."

Aki walked over the door and hanged the 'closed' sign on the glass door's handle. "Patori, you're still a kid. You should be enjoying yourself, not getting yourself to work early," she said as she walked back to the girl, patting her head.

"I know, but I can't stand seeing my aunt stress over work for us. It makes me feel like I'm a burden of some sort," Patori explained. "At least I still have my newspaper job in the morning after this."

"Wow. The school's valedictorian, a great athlete and a family breadwinner. Kid, you're really cool, you know that?"

Patori smiled. "Thanks. I'm going now."

"By the way," Aki said, "are you going to the Tanabata festival? You don't have work tomorrow, right?"

"Uh, I don't know," Patori tapped her chin in thought. "Maybe. I'm not really interested. If I go, my aunt and my friends will just force me to wear a yukata again like last year." She giggled.

Aki chuckled. "Why don't you go? You should make a wish or something. Part-time workers don't have work until next week because of the festival so I think you should make use of the free time."

"I'll think about it, Aki-_san_. Bye."

"See 'ya," Aki waved.

Patori went over to the staff room and opened her locker. A photo of her current family was there—her aunt Namiko, her eight-year-old brother Kontarui, herself and their dog and cat.

'_At least the three of us are always together_,' she thought with a smile, taking her clothes and walked to the girls' bathroom. _'Oh yeah, there's five of us._' She giggled at the thought of Komo and Miki, their pet dog and cat. After as she was done dressing, she grabbed her things and left the gym. She decided to buy something for Konyu and her aunt Namiko before going home.

Moments later, Patori was getting off the train and out of the train station.

She headed for _Kawamura Sushi_, one of the popular sushi stores around the area. The sushi shop is owned by the family of her schoolmate Kawamura Takashi. Patori's family likes sushi very much and she thinks it's a good idea to buy them some good food.

When Patori reached the store, a friendly voice greeted her.

"Good evening, miss," said Mr. Kawamura, whom she is familiar with. Then his face changed in a surprised expression. "Oh, am I imagining things, or were you here yesterday?"

"Um, yes," Patori said sheepishly. "I was—"

"Tori?" A voice cut her off. She looked behind Mr. Kawamura to see who it was.

"Oishi?"

Oishi Shuichiro and Fuji Syuuske were at a nearby table with Kawamura Takashi, Mr. Kawamura's son, who was serving them a new batch of sushi.

Fuji smiled. "Look who's here."

"So I was I right," Mr. Kawamura laughed.

"Yes, I was with my friends Shuu-_chan_ and Akira-_chan_ here yesterday," Patori said politely.

Oishi waved at Patori. "Tori-_chan_, come sit with us," he said.

"Um, no thanks, I'm just going to order some sushi and leave."

"Come on, come sit with them for a while," Taka insisted. "They ordered too much sushi anyway."

"My fault," Fuji chuckled.

"Well… I guess its okay, thanks." She changed her mind and accepted.

"You wanted to order some sushi right?" Taka asked. "What would you like?"

"Just a dozen of kani sushi, and a dozen of tamago sushi, thanks."

While Taka and his father went back to the counter to make Patori's order, Patori walked over to Oishi and Fuji's table and sat beside Oishi. Fuji handed her some chopsticks and she gladly took them.

Oishi took a good look at Patori's face. "Is there something wrong? Why do you look so down?"

"N-nothing…! Nothing's wrong," Patori said, waving her hands. "I'm fine, really."

"Isn't it a little late for you to be out here now?" Fuji asked, picking up a wasabi sushi with his chopsticks. "Where did you go after school?"

"Um… from work," Patori said. "I have work everyday."

"Oh, you work at _Atobe's Sports Gym_, right?" Oishi asked.

Patori nodded as she took a piece of sushi for herself. "Yeah. It's just a contractual job but it helped my family. I only work there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Sometimes on weekends too, if I have time."

"Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays? I thought you said you work everyday?"

"I also have a newspaper job in the morning. That one's every day of the week, except Monday and Friday so I always wake up early."

Fuji and Oishi glanced at each other.

"I never knew that you had two jobs," Oishi said, surprised.

"I never knew either. All this time you were working and doing school work twenty-four-seven," Fuji said. "It must be hard, considering the fact that you're an athlete too."

Patori giggled. "Not really. I've gotten in used to it. So used to it that my eyes automatically shoots open at five in the morning," she laughed. "I have to admit though, it was kinda hard at first."

Oishi looked worried. "Then… how do you get some sleep? And eat dinner at work days? Are you even eating?"

The ponytailed girl waved her hands. "N-no! I uh—I eat, don't worry about that. I eat breakfast before my job in the morning—I make my family's breakfast everyday. When I won't be able to make anything for breakfast, I go grab some sandwiches at the school canteen when I arrive early. I eat dinner when I get home from work. After two or three hours I go to sleep." Her face went red. "And I um… when I feel the need for more sleep, I sometimes take a nap during breaks at work or at the rooftop at school."

Fuji tilted his head. "What about your studies?"

"I study while I work, since I'm only stationed behind the customer service counter. Sometimes I do it during or after club hours, when I'm not doing anything."

Mr. Kawamura arrived at their table, placing Patori's take-out order in front of the awe-stricken Oishi and Fuji.

"That's very hard-working of you, but I don't think that's healthy, kid. You're still too young to get yourself stressed out like that," Mr. Kawamura said as he shook his head.

"I'm with Kawamura-_san_ on this, Patori," Fuji said, looking as concerned as the others. "I know your family's having a hard time, but don't push yourself."

Taka looked up at them from the sushi counter as wiped the tabletop. "Fuji and _Oto-san_ are right, Tanja-chan. I think having a part-time job is okay, since I do some work myself, but you need to take care of yourself too. You still need to focus on studying and your tennis."

"But everything's okay," Patori protested. "Oishi-_kun_, Fuji-_san_, Taka-_san_, Kawamura-_san_—I'm fine, really."

"I still think you're pushing yourself way to hard," Fuji said. "Do you even have time for yourself?"

This time, Patori couldn't answer them. She looked down at her lap, where her fists were clenching lightly at her skirt. Sure, she goes out with her friends and teammates like Hetsuna Shuu and Hagane Akira, visits her best friend Morida Kuchia sometimes, and hangs out with her schoolmates—but those free times were barely everyday. She has to wait for weekends to come so she could play tennis with her brother, even though she gets to pick him up from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or buy manga or anything of her interest. Her needs always came first before wants.

She's heard what everyone just said a moment ago—from her co-workers, her coach and teammates, her aunt, the owner of the bookstore where she does her newspaper job. But even though she's heard this many times, she can't help getting upset whenever people bring this situation to her.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up and smiled at everyone, much to the men's confusion.

Patori laid down her chopsticks. "Thanks so much for worrying about me," she said, standing up as she took the package that contained the sushi that she ordered. "But I'm really fine. Everything's alright. Um, I need to go now, my aunt and my brother are probably waiting for me at home."

"But, Tori-_chan_…" Oishi began.

"Thank you—Oishi-kun, Fuji-kun—Taka-_san_, Kawamura-_san_."

Oishi watched Patori as she bowed and left.

_Why is a nice person like her going under so much pressure?_

* * *

Patori walked silently down the street.

While walking, the talk at _Kawamura Sushi_ a while back went back to her mind. And not just that—there was also the time her coach-slash-Chemistry teacher Hoshinaga Yurika talked to her a few times about the situation after class or after club hours, her best friend Morida Kuchia rambling on the phone about the matter or her other friends telling her to lay off at least one of her jobs.

_Or even better,_ both_ of it!_ Kuchia's words rang in her mind.

Patori sighed.

Part of her wants to listen to her friends; part of her wants to keep her life the way it is.

Soon, she reached her home. As she walked inside, her younger brother Kontarui ran to her, kicking away some books that were oddly scattered around the place.

"Hi, _onee-chan_!" He greeted happily. He glanced at the plastic in her sister's hand. "Hey, is that sushi? Yay, we're having sushi for dinner!" Konyu ran in the kitchen, where the smell of vegetable curry was coming from. Patori giggled when she heard his brother telling his aunt about the sushi. She took her shoes off and went into the kitchen.

"Hey, Nami-chan," Patori greeted her aunt Namiko and placed the sushi on the counter where her aunt was transferring the freshly-cooked curry into a bowl. "Here's some sushi."

"Thank you, Tori," Namiko smiled and scraped the last of the curry from the saucepan into the bowl. As soon as she was finished, she saw a little hand creeping towards the sushi. She instantly slapped Konyu's hand away.

Konyu backed his hand away. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"No sushi for you until you clean your mess in the house," the kids' aunt placed her hands on her hips. Konyu grunted and went out of the kitchen.

Namiko glanced at Patori who was watching as she took out utensils from the kitchen cabinet. "Do you know what he did today? He made a domino trail from the living room to your room to the hallway. He used books, picture frames, your textbooks—everything," she placed her palm on her face. "I really don't know what to do with your brother."

Patori laughed. "You know Konyu's a pretty hyperactive kid. Besides, he's only eight."

Namiko smiled and placed the bowl of curry on the dining table. "But you didn't do things like that when you were eight." She went back to the counter to get the rice cooker. She noticed Patori placing the bowls and chopsticks on the dining table silently with a sad smile on her face. Namiko suddenly looked worried. "Tori, are you okay?"

Patori glanced at her aunt, and then walked over to the refrigerator. "At work earlier, the new manager at the gym found out about… well…" she started, taking out a yellow pitcher and placed it on the table.

Her aunt looked down at the floor, then up at Patori. "Oh. Did they… fire you?"

"No," she shook her head. "They allowed me keep my job until the end of the contract."

Namiko smiled a little. "That's… good." Suddenly, guilt washed over face. "I'm really sorry, Tori."

Patori smiled at her aunt. "Nami-chan, we've talked about this before, right? Don't blame yourself. I was the one who wanted to work."

Suddenly, Konyu came in, running. "All right! Sushi time!" He yelled. Before he could sit on his chair, Namiko pulled him back by his collar.

"Not so fast. Wash your hands," she said.

Konyu pouted before going to the sink.

Patori laughed at his aunt and his brother. "You guys must have enjoyed the afternoon, huh?"

Namiko sighed at Patori. "You have no idea."

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Sidenotes:

1. Oishi calls Patori "Tori-_chan_" because they have known each other since elementary school. She's also like Momo, who likes everyone calling her "-_chan_". She feels comfortable when people she knows call her that way. So, she's extremely shy around people she doesn't know or not really familiar with.

2. Namiko, though she is Patori and Konyu's aunt, prefers to be called by her given name too. Patori probably got that from her. Ahaha

3. "Konyu" from "Kontarui"? Patori couldn't pronounce words very well when she was in pre-school, so that ended up being Kontarui's nickname.

Thank you for reading! Until the next chapter!^^

P.S. Do you wanna ask the TeniPuri princes some questions? Well then, come drop by their Formsprings! Once you have access to one prince, you'll get to all the princes. ;D

I RP Shiraishi from Shitenhoji. His Formspring account name is **kaburiel**. See you there! XD (Our only guests are people from deviantART and LiveJournal, so I hope the audience will expand through this lame advertisment. Oh and, if you wish to make an account for a prince, **please do inform ShinTeniPuri at Formspring or devART**. Thanks! XD)


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